After graduating, she joined the law firm Crowell & Moring for a year. She then went to work in the Office of the D.C. Attorney General. She also taught at the Georgetown University Law Center as an adjunct professor of law.[3]
On May 20, 2004, President George W. Bush nominated her to serve as an associate judge on the same court. Her nomination expired on December 8, 2004, with the end of the 108th United States Congress.[7]
President Bush renominated her on February 14, 2005, to a 15-year term as an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to the seat vacated by Nan R. Shuker.[8] On September 13, 2005, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on her nomination. On September 22, 2005, the committee reported her nomination favorably to the Senate. On October 7, 2005, the full Senate confirmed her nomination by voice vote.[9] She was sworn in on December 16, 2005.[5]